Lease Violation - St. Patricks Day Petition Against The Marq Student Housing

As a current student of Wilfrid Laurier University, I made the decision to lease an apartment at The Marq on Ezra Street as well as many other students. The building chose to implement a new rule specifically for St. Patricks Day. This means that in no way did we, the tenants, know about this rule when we first signed our leases.

The following email was sent from The Marq Waterloo last week to all tenants:

"To align with the goals of the City and to reduce potential issues related to the fire code and potential overcrowding in the building, there will be a limit of one guest per person, up to 35 guests in each building."

Regardless of the assumptions that The Marq may make about potential fire hazards, this contradicts how many people were allowed into the building during previous years and even the 2017 homecoming.

This story should be reported because I believe it is not only a violation of our lease agreement because in no way does it specify the number of guests we are allowed to have, but it is a violation of our rights as tenants.

This implemented policy violates Section 22 of the Tenancy Act, the Landlord and Tenant Act of Ontario AND they are breaching their own lease by not stating this policy before having students sign it. The Marq is committing an illegal act and they are well aware of their actions as I and many other students have reached out to them.

I have spoken to an attorney and he has instructed me to start a petition to take to the property manager of The Marq Building.

Our goal as students currently living in Waterloo is to enjoy our time here especially on popular events such as St. Patricks Day. All I ask is that we all come together to support this issue and fight for our rights as tenants.

If you currently live in one of The Marq Buildings and support this petition, after signing, please leave a comment of which building you live in.

Thank you for reading this petition; let's have a fun St. Patricks Day!